Newsletter 24 Improved Alignment and Testing of LAS MkII

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1 Newsletter 24 Improved Alignment and Testing of LAS MkII Solar Monitoring in Qatar Measuring PV Performance in the Real World CNR 4 on the North Slope of Alaska

2 Innovation Content April 2013 P2: Foeke s Column Innovation Innovation is a kind of a magic word today. Governments are making special funding available for companies that are innovative; there are industry awards for the most innovative companies. It seems that if a company is not innovative, it is lost and there is no future for such companies. P3: News update Improved Alignment and Testing of LAS MkII A New Brewer for Korea P4: Solar Monitoring in Qatar P5: Measuring PV Performance in the Real World P6: CNR 4 on the North Slope of Alaska P7: The New French Office is at your Service Get trained on Solar Radiation Measurement Fairs & Events When I started my professional career in 1992 in the Scientific Department of the Dutch Meteorological Institute (KNMI) in solar radiation research, one of the first instruments I was introduced to was the CM 11. A few years later I purchased Brewer #100 for KNMI, the first commercially built Brewer MkIII. Now working at Kipp & Zonen in 2013 we have arrived at the CMP 11 and SMP11 and the Brewer MkIII, all still in principle the same as 18 years ago. Despite what one would expect, science is conservative. New sensors means breaking measurements series, parallel measurements, avoiding discontinuities in measurements series, etc. From the perspective that such sensors can and have to be used operationally for some two decades, it can be deduced that the highest build quality is more essential and important than innovation. 2 The sensors Kipp & Zonen manufactures, are not commodities. Our customers are not going to be happy if we launch new versions of sensors every year (although some of our competitors seem to think so). Over the years many innovation have been implemented, but in the form of evolutionary innovations (instead of revolutionary). Contact If you have a news item for the newsletter or want to share your experiences with Kipp & Zonen applications and contribute to our next issues, please the editor: kelly.dalu@kippzonen.com On the other hand, the investments in innovations and R&D continues and new programs will be started to expand the evolutionary innovations and to initiate more revolutionary innovations for those products that need it. Kipp & Zonen is innovative and highly values the directions from our users. We strive to accommodate innovative activities to develop new and beautiful top quality products in the years to come, without losing our well known quality. Enjoy reading the 24 th issue of our newsletter. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without permission in written form from the company. Kipp & Zonen B.V Foeke Kuik - Business Development Manager Kipp & Zonen B.V.

3 Improved Alignment and Testing of LAS MkII A new alignment and calibration facility for the Large Aperture Scintillometer (LAS) has recently been commissioned on the roof of Kipp & Zonen in Delft. A large aperture scintillometer is an instrument that consists of a transmitter and receiver, spaced from a hundred metres to sveral kilometres apart, that measures heat fluxes from the Earth s surface. Using an internal data logger the LAS MkII receiver records intensity fluctuations of the light beam emitted by the transmitter. These fluctuations are caused by refraction of the light beam as it passes through the turbulent surface layer of air. A New Brewer for Korea At the end of January, our Brewer specialist David Godoy visited Korea to install a new Brewer MkIII Spectrophotometer. Here he tells us about his trip. There is already a wide Brewer network spread around the world and South Korea is one of the countries supporting the network with several Brewers. The Korean Meteorological Administration (KMA) has recently acquired a new Brewer to be located at Anmyeon Island, which is 200 km south of Seoul. In December last year three of the staff from the Korea Global Atmosphere Watch Center (KGAWC) visited Delft to see their new Brewer and to undertake an in-depth training course about the operation and maintenance of the instrument. The next step was to visit them to install and commission it. I flew to Korea in order to install Brewer #213 at the KGAWC Observatory, and to give training to the people involved with the Brewer. I have to say that I greatly appreciated all the support that was given to me by Danny Lee (Hanway) and Jung Mi Lee (KMA), they were willing to make my time there as comfortable as possible and they made me feel really at home. To obtain the best quality measurements, the alignment of optical components within the transmitter and receiver to the axis of the Fresnel focussing lens must be optimised. We have now designed and installed equipment that allows new LAS MkII, and instruments returned for service, to be tested at the factory by a single operator. A reference transmitter is located 890 m away on top of the Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science building of the Delft University of Technology, and points at the Kipp & Zonen roof. The infra-red light beam from the transmitter spreads out slightly with distance, so we can place several test receivers alongside a reference receiver for optical alignment and we can compare the data from them for performance checks. Over the two first days, I set the new Brewer in place, checked that everything was in order and performed some final adjustments. On the third day I started the training and helped them to tackle some problems with their older Brewer #161 so that they could install it on the roof once again. After solving the issues with #161 and making sure that the new #213 was doing well we went to Puhang City (400 km away) for the last two days, to troubleshoot Brewer #095 which was working poorly. Thanks to help from Danny, Jung and the rest of the team we managed to diagnose the problem and find a solution so that the old #095 could work again. I left Korea exhausted but with a very good feeling, satisfied from having done a good job; I am really looking forward to returning to Korea to see such friendly people again. 3 The university s roof also has a reference receiver with a radio data link so that the received signal strength can be monitored whilst a test transmitter on the Kipp & Zonen roof is optically aligned and the beam power checked. This new facility enables easy and repeatable alignment and testing of our Large Aperture Scintillometers and comparison with reference instruments With thanks to our Brewer distributor for South Korea, Hanway Trading Co. Ltd. of Seoul Passion for Precision

4 Solar Monitoring in Qatar Launched in 2011, QEERI is the Qatar Environment & Energy Research Institute and a member of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development. QEERI is conducting research in the areas of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), Efficient PV Systems and the effect of dust on Solar Collectors. A Reference Solar Monitoring Station was installed in Doha, Qatar to obtain accurate solar radiation data for research and investigation. 4 The CMP 11 pyranometers and CGR 3 pyrgeometer being fitted on a CVF 3 ventilation unit before the cover is mounted Concentrated Solar Power is used for generating electricity The basis of the station is a SOLYS 2 sun tracker with sun sensor and for water desalination. Other points of interest are the kit and shading ball assembly. The system measures Global and Qatar Energy footprint and a Qatar solar atlas. Even though Diffuse radiation with CMP 11 pyranometers. Direct radiation is oil and gas are still important export products of Qatar, measured with a CHP 1 pyrheliometer and the long-wave (FIR) QEERI is looking to the future for alternatives and clean long radiation with a CGR 4 pyrgeometer. The three top-mounted term solutions. radiometers are fitted with CVF 3 ventilation units. In November 2012 Ruud Ringoir from Kipp & Zonen visited Doha to install and commission a Solar Monitoring Station for the Alternative Energy Group of QEERI, on the roof of a building of the Qatar Foundation. Together with Dr. Mokhtar Chmeissani, an affiliate scientist in the Alternative Energy group, Dunia A. Bachour and Dr. Daniel Perez Astudillo, both researchers at QEERI, the station was installed and operating in three days. Dunia A. Bachour mounting the CMP 11 pyranometers Dr. Daniel Perez Astudillo, Dr. Mokhtar Chmeissani and Ruud Ringoir The instruments are connected to a COMBILOG data logger with 230 VAC power supply and a 12 V battery with solar panel as backup. Communication between the data logger and a computer is via RS-232 cable. However, when the station is moved to its final location communication will be via GSM/GPRS modem. The selection of the site will be based on availability and an optimal free field of view

5 Measuring PV Performance in the Real World By Michael S. Buday, MS/MBA; University of Michigan, Ann Arbour We designed and constructed a test-bed for the purpose of evaluating PV modules in real-world conditions, and the impacts of key variables that affect PV performance. The key components of the system include a 1 kw sourcemeter performing IV (current/voltage) sweeps, a switching mainframe that directs the system to select a PV module to test while routing the other modules to fixed load resistors while not under test. A data acquisition system collects readings from weather-station instruments tracking irradiance, temperature (both back-of-module and ambient) and wind speed. Current, voltage and power observations, correlated to our weather-station device readings, are collected from a total of 20 c-si (crystalline silicon), a-si (amorphous silicon) and CIGS (copper indium gallium (di)selenide) PV modules every ten minutes during daylight-hours when plane of array irradiance is > 20 W/m². To measure POA IRR, we use several Kipp & Zonen SP Lite2 photodiode detector pyranometers. Based on observations taken between July and December 2010, our PV module performance results consist of a series of graphs plotting percentage P max, I sc, V oc and FF against POA irradiance, as well as percentage Pmax against AOI, percentage P max and FF against module temperature, and FF and percentage P max over time intervals. Shown on the graph below is the percentage of P max under Standard Test Conditions (STC, 1000 W/m² and +25 C) that is actually produced under real world outdoor conditions. In accordance with IEC , we also calculated linear and polynomial line fits for percentage Pmax versus irradiance and linear interpolations of I sc, V oc, V mp and P max with respect to temperature and irradiance as well as a polynomial interpolation of P max to irradiance. Secondary-standard, first-class and second class thermopiletype pyranometers measure all the available solar irradiance throughout the range 300 to 2800 nm, which more than covers the wavelengths to which PV technologies respond. However, silicon diode pyranometers only respond to a narrower range of wavelengths (400 to 1100 nm) but are still used in PV weather stations, in part because they are less expensive than thermopiles. Therefore, in March 2011, we added a secondary standard Kipp & Zonen CMP 21 to our test-bed. We observed that our CIGS module had a better fit with a polynomial rather than a linear equation, especially below 1000 W/m². As indicated in the graph a-si module clearly demonstrates a better power index to irradiance performance ratio than either c-si or CIGS. This corresponds to the equations in the table and is due to a-si s superior temperature coefficient. Module Material % P max Trend Line R 2 a-si Irr CIGS 4 x 10-7 Irr Irr c-si Irr Percentage STC P max [%] a-si mc-si cylindrical CIGS POA Irradiance [W/m²] Actual module power versus plane of array irradiance Outdoor PV module testing systems, such as the one we developed can dramatically increase an organization s capability to evaluate PV under real-world conditions. They help to highlight the limitations of STC-based PV ratings and can assist a PV manufacturer with product development or a developer with selecting PV modules for installation Source: Buday, M., Keoleian, G., Marion, W., Measuring Irradiance, Temperature and Angle of Incidence Effects on Photovoltaic Modules in Auburn Hills, Michigan, Center for Sustainable Systems, Report No. CSS11-12, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan Passion for Precision

6 CNR 4 on the North Slope of Alaska By Steven F. Oberbauer, Ph.D. and Nathan C. Healey, Ph.D. of Florida International University Department of Biological Sciences, Miami Ecological research currently being conducted on the North Slope of Alaska has been enhanced via implementation of radiation measurements made by Kipp & Zonen products. Here, we employ CNR 4 Net Radiometers at four locations: Toolik Lake ( N, W) and Imnavait Creek ( N, W), Atqasuk (70 27'N, 'W) and Barrow Alaska (71 18' N, ' W). Thule Greenland Barrow Alaska Atqasuk 6 Imnavait Creek Toolik Lake This instrument is part of a suite of sensors on mobile platforms designed to examine Arctic ecological characteristics of vegetation through long-term observations within the Arctic Observation Network (AON) and the International Tundra Experiment (ITEX) established in the early 1990 s. We utilize the CNR 4 model at the North Slope locations so that we can analyze all incoming and outgoing long-wave and short-wave radiation among different vegetative communities including dry heath, moist acidic tundra, and shrub tundra, to name a few. At a fifth location, Thule Greenland (76 32' N, 68 49' W), we are using a CNR 2 in conjunction with a CMP 3 pyranometer. CMP 3 pyranometer system above the canopy of rainforest in Costa Rica. And two of our eddy covariance flux towers in the Everglades of Florida as well as the tower in Costa Rica use CNR 2 s. And in the Florida Everglades Wetlands we re using a Kipp & Zonen Large Aperture Scintillometer (LAS) for sensible heat flux measurement. Our daily scans span the Arctic growing season (May to September) enabling us to analyze phenomena occurring over seasonal, monthly, weekly, and daily time periods. These radiation measurements across the Arctic biome are critical for AON-ITEX in order to investigate both short-term and long-term energy, carbon, and water balance studies at the Earth s surface. We don t only work in Alaska! We have also deployed a lightweight mobile sensor with a CNR 2 net radiometer and Left: CNR 4 Net Radiometer at far left of sensor system on support cables at Toolik Lake, Alaska Right: Steven F. Oberbauer (Principal Investigator) and Nathan C. Healey (Postdoctoral Research Associate) observing the mobile sensor system s support cables and towers Find out more about the work of the Florida International University Department of Biological Sciences at

7 The New French Office is at your Service Last year the French office moved to a new facility. Now that they are settled in, it s time to turn the extra space available into an advantage for our customers in France. Kipp & Zonen France has expanded its activities to minimize the turn-around times for maintenance, repair and calibration. Moreover, they will soon be able to perform calibrations themselves! Pierre Simonneaud, our customer support technician, and Kamal Sabra, our sales manager, are both excited about the prospect of having their own calibration facility. Get trained on Solar Radiation Measurement Did you know that we offer certified training both on location and at our office? Depending on your requirements and topics of interest we can train you and your staff on the measurement of solar radiation and the installation of our instruments. In 2 or 3 days our product managers explain the theory and let you go hands-on with our instruments. All aspects are covered and you will be ready to advise, install and work with the best radiometers in the world! Fairs & Events Our new French office cannot be overlooked It will be a great benefit to all our customers to add the calibration of pyranometers, albedometers and some other instruments to our service. Once the installation is completed and validated, and we have received reference instruments calibrated at the World Radiation Centre in Davos, Switzerland, we will be ready to accept customer instruments for calibration. The new calibration facility will be operational this summer EGU General Assembly Vienna Austria The Solar Show AFRICA Johannesburg South Africa SOLAREX Istanbul Turkey CISOLAR Moscow Russia SOLAR 2013 Baltimore USA SOLAREXPO Milan Italy SNEC 2013 PV POWER EXPO Shanghai China Renewable Energy Asia Bangkok Thailand Intersolar EUROPE Munich Germany ICEM International Conference Energy & Meteorology Toulouse France 7-12 April & 10 April April & 12 April April May & 15 May June June June 2013 Passion for Precision

8 Passion for Precision Kipp & Zonen is the leading company in measuring solar radiation and atmospheric properties. Our passion for precision has led to the development of a large range of high quality instruments, from all weather radiometers to complete measurement systems. We promise our customers guaranteed performance and quality in; Meteorology, Climatology, Hydrology, Industry, Renewable Energy, Agriculture and Public Health. We hope you will join our passion for precision. HEAD OFFICE Kipp & Zonen B.V. Delftechpark 36, 2628 XH Delft P.O. Box 507, 2600 AM Delft The Netherlands T: +31 (0) F: +31 (0) info@kippzonen.com SALES OFFICES Kipp & Zonen France S.A.R.L. 88 Avenue de l Europe Emerainville France T: +33 (0) F: +33 (0) kipp.france@kippzonen.com Kipp & Zonen Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd. 10 Ubi Crescent Lobby E #02-93 Ubi Techpark Singapore T: +65 (0) F: +65 (0) kipp.singapore@kippzonen.com Kipp & Zonen USA Inc. 125 Wilbur Place Bohemia NY United States of America T: +1 (0) F: +1 (0) kipp.usa@kippzonen.com Go to for your local distributor or contact your local sales office